Why do entrepreneurs fail?

We could list dozens upon dozens of reasons on why entrepreneurs fail – lack of money, lack of customers, unproven business model, etc.

But what is at the heart of those reasons?

Lack of money doesn’t cause people to quit. It is a symptom. I know plenty of people who persevered through long periods of low funds.

Lack of customers is a symptom, too. It has been cured through thousands of innovations.

People quit when they are emotionally exhausted — burned out. They give in. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. Seth Godin wrote an entire treatise on quitting in his book, The Dip. He suggests that quitting isn’t all that bad when it is the right thing to do.

If somehow we could manage or alleviate an entrepreneurs level of emotional exhaustion, we may keep more of these job-producing engines alive.